Online Nation – 2020 report

1 Online Nation 2020 ReportRaising awareness of Online harmsPublished 24 June 2020 Contents Section Overview 1 1. The Online consumer 6 2. The Online industry 50 3. Online games 77 4. Video-sharing platforms 104 5. Online communication services 140 Annex A1. Methodology 166 Online Nation 2020 1 Overview Online Nation is an annual research report , published for the first time in 2019. Using research produced both by Ofcom and others, this report and the accompanying interactive data look at what people in the UK are doing Online , how they are served by Online content providers and platforms, and their experiences of using the internet, alongside business models and industry trends.

2 As well as looking at long-term trends, this year s report includes more recent data looking at Online behaviour in the UK during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Alongside this we have published our latest Adults' media use and attitudes report and research into internet users concerns about and experience of potential Online harms, with advice on the research design provided by the Information Commissioner s Office (ICO). The report follows a similar structure to last year, with chapters on: the Online consumer covering the most popular Online services and their use in the UK and consumers attitudes towards and understanding of them; the Online industry covering Online sector growth and trends from a UK perspective; and three final chapters looking in detail at specific aspects of the Online experience, helping us to understand how specific Online communications and media are used by people in the UK and how businesses monetise and operate their services.

3 This year, we include three detailed chapters on Online games, video-s haring platforms and o nline communication services. As in 2019, this report is an important part of our work to understand communications markets and consumer behaviour. We have a duty to research and promote media literacy, which includes promoting an understanding of what is happening Online . There have recently been a number of developments around Ofcom s remit in regard to Online services. Namely, Ofcom is preparing to take on new duties for the regulation of UK-based video-sharing platforms ( VSPs) and the UK Government has announced that it is minded to appoint Ofcom as the regulator of the forthcoming Online harms regime.

4 While the information in this report may have relevance to a number of different areas of our remit, it does not put forward policy guidance or make any policy recommendations. Some of the key findings from our report are set out below, with a longer summary also available. Online Nation 2020 2 What we have found in brief Consumer and industry: time spent Online , and associated revenues, grew in 2019 In September 2019 the average time spent Online each day by adults aged 18+ was 3 hours 29 minutes, up from 3 hours 11 minutes in In comparison, on average, adults spent 3 hours 19 minutes watching TV on a TV set each day,2 and 2 hours 40 minutes listening to radio each 71% of all measured time spent Online was on smartphones.

5 35% of internet users only accessed the internet on mobile devices (smartphone or tablet).4 13% of adults do not use the internet, a figure that is broadly unchanged since 2014. Half of over-75s do not use the internet (51%).5 In 2020, a fifth (22%) of UK adults have a smart speaker in the home and 11% of all UK households own some kind of smart home technology (including devices such as smart home security, smart lighting and smart heating).6 Advertising is the main revenue source for many internet business models and has grown at a compound growth rate of 20% for the past five years,7 with the UK Online advertising market generating in 39% of the total time spent Online by adult internet users in the UK in September 2019 was spent on Google-owned sites (which includes YouTube) and Facebook-owned sites (including Instagram and WhatsApp).

6 9 Google and Facebook sites combined had an estimated 78% of UK Online advertising revenues in Covid-19 impact: time spent Online reaches record levels, though digital advertising revenues are forecast to decline for the first time In April 2020, internet users in the UK spent an average of 4 hours 2 minutes Online each day, 37 minutes more each day per Online adult compared with January In April 2020, the reach of education (+3 percentage points), health (+5pp) and government (+5pp) sites had all grown since January, while UK users of news sites spent more than three 1 Source: Comscore MMX Multi-Platform, Total Internet, Adults 18+, Sep 2018 & 2019 2 BARB, Avg.

7 Daily Minutes based on adults in TV households, Adults 18+, Sep 2019 3 RAJAR 2019 Q3, Adults 18+ listeners; excludes internet listening; 3-month weight 4 Comscore MMX Multi-Platform, Age: 18+, Sep 2019, UK. 5 Ofcom Adults Media Literacy Tracker 2019 6 Ofcom Technology Tracker 2020 7 Oliver & Ohlbaum estimates and analysis, based on data from AA/WARC, PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, Enders Analysis (based on company data and AA/WARC), Zenith, Statista, the e-Commerce Foundation, company reporting and public filings. UK adjusted for CPI at 2019 prices by Ofcom. 8 2019 IAB UK & PwC, Digital Adspend Study 9 Comscore MMX Multi-Platform, Age: 18+, Sep 2019, UK.

8 10 Ofcom calculation, based on gross revenue data from AA/WARC and Oliver & Ohlbaum analysis 11 Comscore MMX Multi-platform, Total Internet, Age: 18+, Jan 2020, April 2020 Online Nation 2020 3 minutes more on these sites on average each day, and users of social media sites spent more than 18 minutes more each day on TikTok increased its reach among adults in the UK from million to million between January and April 2020; Houseparty increased from 175,000 to 4 million; Zoom reached 13 million adult internet users in April, up from 659,000 in People are using a range of sources to access news about the coronavirus, with BBC services the most popular source of news.

9 At the height of the crisis, around half said they had seen false or misleading information about the coronavirus in the last Although 2019 was another year of growth for Online advertising, the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure report forecasts that the impact of the coronavirus in 2020 will result in year-on-year declines in paid search and Online display advertising for the first More people in the UK are using their mobiles to access Online games, and engaging with game content across a range of social platforms In 2019, 16% of all adults played games Online , rising to 48% among 16-24 year-olds,16 and 59% of 5-15 In 2009, 27% of adults played games on a dedicated console, falling to 16% in 2019, while the proportion playing games on mobiles increased from 6% to 23%.

10 18 UK revenues for games software exceeded in 2019, compared to for video and for One in ten (9%) UK game-playing adults have used a games social network such as Steam or Xbox Live in the past month. Of those who use the communication features of games and game-related platforms, a third (33%) talk to friends more via these platforms than via other forms of Online communication, and more than half (53%) talk about a wider range of topics than the games they are playing. Fifteen percent of adults and almost two in five (37%) 18-24 year-olds say they watch videos of gameplay on services such as YouTube or Twitch every month.